link"Short description for products from features (autogeneration)" documentation

The add-on is included in the SEO package for CS-Cart (it is free for owners of the package with an active subscription to updates).

The add-on allows you to configure the generation of an alternative product short description based on the selected features and their values for products. The description will have the format of a list of features names and their values with the ability to display this alternative field instead of the native CS-Cart short description field.

What it gives and why use the add-on in the CS-Cart based store:

• you can fully automate the routine work of compiling brief descriptions of goods;
• you will always have informative short descriptions (with specific data for the user - no "water info");
• you will always have up-to-date and truthful information (due to the mechanism of regeneration of descriptions);
• you will have excellent performance, all information about the technical features is stored in one field, which is prepared in advance (no online queries);
• you can use native and (or) alternative short descriptions in mixed-mode (due to several display modes that can be applied in the add-on settings);
• by integrating with other add-ons from the SEO package, you will improve linking in your store (your pages will get enough static weight and clickable links to promote) and also solve the problem of returning in your uploads not your descriptions, but generated ones that you don’t mind giving back (see Integration with other add-ons).

The add-on has the following functionality:

• the ability to select features by which it is necessary to generate alternative short descriptions (which are recorded in a separate field created by the add-on in the database);
• the ability to configure separators that will be used to display the names of features and their values;
• the ability to control the policy of displaying an alternative short description instead of a native short description of the products (3 variants are possible);
• the ability to configure the regeneration of alternative short descriptions according to a schedule (using CRON) or by clicking the Regenerate descriptions button;
• the ability to display an alternative short description in the list with the Grid display template.

The add-on has integrations with other CS-Cart SEO add-ons:

Add-on ‒ Advanced Product Export (xml and csv formats) (Must have functionality that makes it possible to place in product feeds not its own unique descriptions, but rather informative technical information about the product)

• the field for an alternative short description of the products becomes available for export in feeds, the setting of field separators for those used in generating feeds has been added.

Add-on ‒ SEO pages for filters (Must have functionality that provides the best level of linking in the store)

• the ability to display a link to the filter’s SEO page for the value of the product’s features (if the corresponding page has been created (product category + filter with the value of the product’s feature) on the product’s page and in the product list;

• the ability to define the “target” attribute for linking to the SEO filter page from the value of the feature: _blank or_self (open in this or a new browser window).

Add-on is compatible with the following Themes:

• YoupiTheme (compatible with correspond CS-Cart version);
• UniTheme2 (compatible with correspond CS-Cart version);
• Responsive.

General technical support conditions are available at this link (be sure to review these conditions, all solutions from the AlexBranding development team come with limited technical support).

In order to use our technical support, you need to:

1. Log in with your order owner account on https://cs-cart.alexbranding.com;
2. Go to the page My Account → Orders;
3. Find the corresponding order with the problem add-on in the orders list and pass to its details;
4. Find the “Support” link next to the corresponding add-on name (near you can find Documentation link also) and click on it;
5. Fill in the data with the problem, provide access to your CS-Cart installation (path to the administration panel, admin mail, admin password + FTP access) and create a ticket (after you will create the ticket, you will receive an e-mail and a special code to track the ticket in the future);
6. Wait for the specialist answer in accordance with the regulations of the technical support service and the priority of your ticket.

If you didn't receive an answer within the deadlines, according to the chosen ticket priority, send e-mail info@alexbranding.com with the ticket number, for which you did not receive an answer in time, and the team manager will solve the problem in compliance with regulations.

You can test the addon work with admin access using our demo server Demos for CS-Cart solutions from Alexbranding by choosing it in Addons list or just follow the link.

We recommend to note general restrictions:

1. All solutions from AlexBranding developers team require pre-installation of the AB: Addons Manager service addon. It is delivered free of charge and is responsible for such services: installation, upgrades, license verifications. Excluding this service addon usage is not possible;
2. Addon files may have a closed (encoded) part, in which only a license check is located;
3. The addon will work only on those domains, that are specified in the user's license. If you try to use the solution on CS-Cart installations, whose domains are not included in the license, the addon will be automatically turned off;
4. Local installation is not possible, so that the addon works on the additional domain (subdomain), enter this domain (subdomain) in the Domain field, when ordering (or write to info@alexbranding.com) - adding technical domains for the developing or for testing is always free.

After your order has been processed by our manager, it will be transferred to Completed state, you will receive an email to your mailbox with ordered add-ons license numbers (usually it takes from 15 minutes to 8 hours depending on the day time and week day).

Then follow the steps below, which differs depending on your version of the CS-Cart platform:

You can also install the add-on with a standard installation for CS-Cart. To do this, download the appropriate archive with an add-on version compatible with your version of the CS-Cart platform.
Go to the website cs-cart.alexbranding.com, log in under the account of the order holder and go to the page My Profile → Orders → Relevant Order, go to details and you will see a list of available archives for the ordered add-on. Download the version (archive) you need and make the installation (standard for CS-Cart installation: Add-ons → Downloaded add-ons and in the gearwheel menu select Manual installation).

For access to the add-on settings you should go to the page Administration panel → Add-ons → Manage add-ons and at the add-on name in the gearwheel menu select appropriate menu item.

For access to the add-on settings you should go to the page Administration panel → Add-ons → Downloaded add-ons and at the add-on name select appropriate menu item.

To get started with the add-on, you must select those features that will be involved in the short descriptions generation. Go to the page Administration panel → Products → Features → [feature name] and set checkbox AB: Use for short description:

If all is alright, then on the product editing page in the tab Add-ons you will see:

You can generate descriptions for all products using the Generate short descriptions for all languages button in the add-on menu. Go to the page Administration panel → Add-ons → Manage add-ons and at the add-on name AB: Products short description from features in the gearwheel menu select Generate descriptions. Here are specified links for creating Cron task:

The add-on adds options View selected features, Choosing features and Generation descriptions to the user rights to view the checkbox value on the property edit page, manage this checkbox and start generating products descriptions accordingly.